Fine Line Between Love and Hate
by eighteen inches
Summary: They hate each other but they love each other. That's the way it's always been between them. and it's the way things will always be. It's how their relationship works.


Fine Line Between Love and Hate

They hate each other, but they also love each other. That's the way it's always been and it's just how their relationship, or whatever you want to call it_, _works.

They fight, they break up, they get back together and then they start over again the next week. It happens over and over – in a never ending cycle.

When they don't want to deal with life anymore, they run. Run from their problems. Run from life. Run from obligations. But they mostly run from each other. Because it's all they know. They're not people who are good with words, so when they don't know what to say, they just run.

They annoy each other. They push and push until one of them finally breaks, and one of them leaves.

He's in their room, randomly throwing clothes into an overnight bag. She's standing in the doorway, helplessly watching him.

"You're leaving."

He stops long enough to turn to face her. His blue eyes are filled with anger, hatred and something else that she can't place. She's sure that her green eyes look just the same.

"Do you expect me to stay?"

That hits her – just a little, but still enough to do damage. And she knows that he loves that, because the corners of his lip barely move upwards. If she weren't a spy trained by the CIA, she wouldn't have seen the slight movement.

He pushes her buttons, gets under her skin and gets her all worked up.

And she _hates_ it.

But she _loves_ him because that's just who he is.

And she _hates_ him.

He throws his bag over his shoulder and goes to leave. She steps in front of him, crossing her arms and cocking a hip. She glares at him, as if daring him to leave; daring him to let her win.

It's like this unspoken game they play.

Running is easy, but staying is harder and there's nothing either of them loves more than a good challenge. If one of then runs, it says 'I give up, you win." But if they stay, it says, 'I _dare_ you to leave and _let_ me win.'

And because they're two of the most stubborn people in the world – or so Rachel, Joe and all of their friends say; all they do is push and push at this invisible wall that neither of them can move. Because they refuse to admit that they can't do it.

Admitting that they can't do something is foreign to them. It's not in their vocabulary.

And even though they leave, they always come back to each other. As if they're the Earth and the Moon and there's this force pulling them back to each other's orbit. A force that constantly keeps them in each other's lives.

Because while they love running; they love staying together.

They're confusing like that.

He shoves past her and goes to the door.

She follows behind him, hoping he doesn't leave. But there's a part of her that's also hoping that he does leave. Because if he leaves, she wins; and there's nothing Abigail Cameron loves more than winning. Especially if it means that Edward Townsend loses in the process.

She wonders if what they have – whatever it is, is strong enough to make him stay. She's answered as she stands in the doorway and watches his taillights fade.

She closes the door before the winter air lets the cold in and waits until the next week, when the cycle starts again.

Because that's how they work; they fight, scream and sometimes she's throws things and things end up broken. And then one of them tries to leave. Sometimes they actual make it out the front door, other times they barely get past the bedroom. It's chaos, but it's something they can't break.

This week it's her turn to leave. Then next week is his turn.

They fight, they break up and they get back together and it happens over and over again – a never ending cycle.

One's a lover and one's a runner. And they go round and round. Except maybe they're both; she loves and when things don't go her way, she runs. He does the same.

"You've got a gypsy soul to blame and you were born for leaving," he tells her, one week when it's her turn to leave.

"I could say the same thing about you," she replies before she walks out the front door.

They love each other, but they leave. They don't want each other, but they need each other. He needs someone to teach him how to lose himself in the moment, to not be too serious and to teach him that he doesn't have to be in control of every detail. She needs someone to remind her when enough is enough, to think before she speaks and to take a moment and actually think before she lashes out.

Any normal person would stay away; but the thing is, they're not normal. The only reason they come back is because of each other. She's what draws him back and he draws her back.

Leaving, returning and doing it all over again. It's become a routine that they've become comfortable with. And they keep it because it's what keeps them sane. And in the life of a spy, they'd do anything to keep from going insane.

They know that neither of them is going to change and they're okay with it; because neither of them is fond of change. Truthfully, it scares them, but they would never tell anyone that; especially not each other.

Even when they leave; they're still surrounded by each other. No matter what, they're always reminded of each other because they're haunted by the memories when the other leaves.

She's haunted by his favorite t-shirt that she loves sleeping in that he _always_ leaves behind; and she knows he does it on purpose to get to her. And she hates it.

He's haunted by the lingering scent of her perfume that he swears she sprays more when she leaves – just to get to him. The scent is stronger when she leaves and his t-shirt smells so _strongly_ of her. And he hates it.

Everywhere they look they see each other. And maybe that's what makes them come back when they leave. Because while it's easy to run away, it's even harder to come back; but they do because they love challenges. They also love annoying the hell out of each other.

That's why they work so well together, but they still drive each other insane. They push and challenge each other; but sometimes, they push too much and everything goes to hell and blows up in their faces.

They should quit it and never look back; because that's the easy way out. But they won't do that. They'd never do that. They're too damn stubborn to do that.

They can't quit; not because of the challenge, but because quitting means that they won't have each other. They lives wouldn't be the same if they didn't have each other and they couldn't stand to have that happened.

While being together hurts, being apart hurts even more.

* * *

AN: So after months and months and maybe even a year of having this plot bunny running around my hand, I've finally sat down and gotten it out, after forcing myself to listen to same song over and over again for a week, oh well.

This fic is inspired by Colder Weather by the Zac Brown Band (which is an amazing song. I'm obsessed with it.) Every time I hear it, I think of these two :p

Well tell me what you thought in a review maybe?


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